Wednesday News: “Biden in Belfast to mark 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement”; “By more than two-to-one, Americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state”; “Right-wing judges may cripple the GOP”; “Youngkin to meet with Democrats on felon voting rights restoration”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 12.

• ‘Entering the clean power era’: Wind and solar generated a record amount of global power in 2022 (“Despite this progress, researchers said that the dramatic build-out of wind and solar was still not fast enough to fulfil all of the world’s increasing electricity needs. Consequently, the report noted that coal and other fossil fuels met the remaining gap, driving up emissions to a new record high.”)
• Climate models warn of possible ‘super El Niño’ before end of year
• Climate change threatens remote town nestled in the Arctic
• Opinion: Climate change will bring more fungal disease. Are we prepared?
• Ukraine Confident in Counteroffensive Despite Leaks, Pentagon Chief Says
• An American Is Drawn Into Putin’s War on Journalism (“Whether or not there’s a prisoner swap, that war will continue.”)
• A Problem for Ukraine: Countries Like Brazil Won’t Sell It Arms (“Brazil has repeatedly declined Ukraine’s requests for weapons. Instead, it is offering to broker peace.”)
• Russia moves to tighten conscription law, pressing more men to fight (“The new rules would allow electronic conscription instead of paper summonses and would impose stiff restrictions on men who do not report for required military duty.”)
• First Thing: Zelenskiy urges world leaders to act over beheading videos (“Ukrainian president calls for action after videos circulated online appear to show soldiers beheaded by Russian forces.”)
• Ukraine war: Leak shows Western special forces on the ground
• Ukraine agents pursued attacks inside Belarus and Russia, leaked U.S. docs say
• Ukrainian hackers say they have compromised Russian spy who hacked Democrats in 2016 (“Ukrainian hackers claim to have broken into the emails of a senior Russian military spy wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for hacking the Hillary Clinton campaign and other senior U.S. Democrats”)
• China’s struggles with lab safety carry danger of another pandemic
• Security threats and political crises converge to create Israel’s perfect storm
• Iran in secret talks with China, Russia to acquire sanctioned missile fuel (“Diplomats fear Tehran could help replenish Moscow’s depleted missile stocks”)
• Joe Biden in Belfast to mark 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement
• After 25 Years of Peace in Northern Ireland, Some Still Wait for Prosperity
• Hungary Sees U.S. Among Top Three Adversaries, Purported Leaked CIA Document Says
• Experts warn of new spyware threat targeting journalists and political figures
• ‘Free Speech’ Twitter Is Now Globally Blocking Posts Critical Of The Modi Government (Musk is definitely NOT for free speech.)
• ‘None of us deserved it’: Americans who survived kidnapping in Mexico share details of their captivity
• Inflation Report to Show if Price Pressures Eased
• The U.S. just hit a major jobs milestone last seen in 2001
• EPA proposes auto pollution limits to aggressively boost electric vehicle sales
• Biden to remake U.S. auto industry with toughest emissions limits ever
• GOP faces difficult budget fight as it nears 100 days in power (They’ve done essentially nothing so far.)
• Biden administration says fentanyl-xylazine cocktail is a deadly national threat
• Fate of US abortion drug hangs in balance ahead of Friday deadline (“Mifepristone will lose its FDA approval this week unless an appeals court intervenes in a case likely to reach the supreme court”)
• By more than two-to-one, Americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state
• Republicans Are Silent On The Abortion Pill Ruling, Despite Confirming The Judge Behind It
• Fox News buries Texas ruling rescinding FDA approval of abortion pill
• Over 66,000 People Couldn’t Get An Abortion In Their Home State After Dobbs
• Democrats want to call GOP’s bluff on defunding the FBI
• The Republican Party Has Given Up On Being an Actual Political Party
• Right-wing judges may cripple the GOP (“…when the MAGA movement’s judges begin to inflict radically unpopular edicts on those outside the right-wing audience, that risks sparking a counter-response: a determined, broad-based movement insistent that the United States not turn the clock back on decades of social progress.”)
• ‘They Are America’s G.O.P. Leninists’
• Birth Control and Vaccines Could Be Next If SCOTUS Upholds the Texas Ruling Against Abortion Medication (“Upholding Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s decision would set a shocking, dangerous precedent.”)
• Between the Tennessee Three, Abortion, and Trump, the GOP Just Loves Losing
• Republicans facing a reckoning later this week (“An NRA convention and an RNC confab in Nashville come at an inopportune time.”)
• The not-so-hidden message behind Donald Trump’s Easter threats of “World War III” (“Trump ‘gives permission to unstable people to carry out their grievances at a murderous level'”)
• Blinded by hate: Republicans too busy to notice plummeting poll numbers for Trump and GOP (“Voters hate Trump, hate GOP abortion politics, hate the racism, but Republicans keep doubling down”)
• Trump says criminal conviction wouldn’t stop him from running for president
• Senate Republicans Learn to Stop Worrying, Love Trump’s Comeback (“Many Republicans blamed Trump for their midterm losses. Now that he’s the clear 2024 front-runner, they’ve decided they can still live with him.”)
• Trump says court staff ‘were crying’ at his arrest (Hahahahahahaha.)
• Bragg Sues Jim Jordan in Move to Block Interference in Trump Case
• Alvin Bragg’s Office Tells Jim Jordan to Take a Road Trip to Ohio If He Wants to Talk About Violent Crime
• Jet-Setting With Clarence Thomas Puts Spotlight on an Eccentric Billionaire
• Fox News under fire for ‘credibility problem’ over late disclosure of Murdoch role
• Judge Limits Fox’s Options for Defense in Dominion Trial
• Rupert Murdoch and Fox Corp. board members sued by investor over ‘stolen election claims’
• Inside Rupert Murdoch’s Succession Drama (“As the media baron’s personal life turns chaotic, and the Dominion v. Fox News lawsuit looms, insiders say there may be more tumult to come.”)
• Judge rules that Fox News cannot rely on their sparse fact-checks for defense in Dominion election fraud case
• Judge chides Fox News over Dominion claim of ‘missing’ Murdoch documents
• Ex-Fox Producer: There Are Secret Rudy Giuliani Recordings About Dominion
• Trump fan gets 4-year sentence for hitting officers with a fire extinguisher on Jan. 6
• Tina Peters, Trump Loyalist and Former Clerk, Is Sentenced in Obstruction Case
• Why can’t Twitter and TikTok be easily replaced? Something called ‘network effects’
• Musk Dodges Questions, Fires Salvos in Live Twitter Ramble
• Elon Musk tells BBC that owning Twitter has been quite painful (Musk is absolutely horrible at running Twitter.)
• Musk on hate speech, Twitter lay-offs and sleeping in the office (“The Twitter boss gave an impromptu and meandering interview to the BBC and denied hate speech was flourishing on the platform.”)
• How Ron DeSantis Is Taking a Page Out of Nixon’s Playbook
• Dianne Feinstein Is MIA, and Her Absence Is Holding Up Judicial Confirmations (This is ridiculous; just resign, for god’s sake.)
• Sarah Sanders asks state board applicants to name what they admire about her most while applying for job (Really sick.)
• SC Sen. Tim Scott takes another White House step: Launching 2024 exploratory committee
• Joe Manchin’s bipartisan routine faces its final test (“Manchin is a giant in West Virginia. But he may not be able to stand up against the state’s lurch to the right.”)
• White House proposes equal cuts for states that depend on Colorado River
• Anti-‘Groomer’ Republican Accused of ‘Inappropriate Relationship’ With Intern
• Missouri House Republicans vote to defund libraries (Insanity in a “red” state.)
• An Undemocratic Power Play in Tennessee
• Justin Pearson of ‘Tennessee Three’ Could Be Reinstated Wednesday
• The GOP’s Antidemocratic Stunt in Tennessee Isn’t Playing Out So Well (“The two Democrats expelled by the state’s Republican House could be reappointed. Meanwhile, their ouster has called attention to concerns over whether the state’s GOP House Speaker lives in the district he represents.”)
• Tennessee Republicans’ Lust for Vengeance Not Only Failed, It Backfired
• How Tennessee Became the Poster State for Political Meltdown
• Gov. Bill Lee calls for ‘order of protection law’ to keep guns away from dangerous individuals
• Tennessee GOP governor signs executive order strengthening background checks
• A Liberal Victory in Wisconsin (“Last week’s election upended the ideological balance of the state’s Supreme Court, with big implications for abortion access, voting rights, and gerrymandering.”)
• Nessel: 1M Mich. residents to see criminal convictions automatically expunged
• Five People Died in the Kentucky Shooting. The Full Toll Is Much Higher.
• Video Shows Louisville Police Under Fire From Bank Shooter (“Body camera video shows Louisville police officers being fired upon as they arrive at the bank where five people were killed.”)
• Ted Cruz Tweet Ages As Badly As Possible After Louisville Shooting (“The Texas senator cast banks as the gold standard for security due to their use of armed guards.”)
• ‘He Didn’t Deserve It’: Widow of Murdered BLM Protester Speaks Out
• A Sinclair-owned Nashville station pushed right-wing narratives in response to the Covenant School shooting (Just remember, Sinclair-owned “news” stations, like WJLA TV7 in the DC area, are not real news, but right-wing propaganda.)
• Sen. Kaine works to expand access to dual enrollment, early college programs
• Video: Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) Says “I’m not going to let Parkinson’s stop me from being me…My head and my heart are 100% committed to serving the people of Virginia” (“I’m doing well, and I want to bring about as much good from this diagnosis as I can—including here in Congress.”)
• Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia announces Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
• Jen Kiggans Cowers After Deeply Unpopular Abortion Ruling From MAGA Texas Judge (“Kiggans’ silence…is yet another reminder that she is a part of Republicans’ crusade against reproductive freedom”)
• Youngkin: “I Don’t Have Much of An Opinion” On Extremist Judge’s Lawless Ruling on Mifepristone (Pathetic.)
• Youngkin says he’s focused on Virginia elections, not 2024 presidential run: ‘I’m not in Iowa’
• Familiar faces duke it out in primary battles over new Va. Senate maps (This article’s ok, other than a bizarre quote implying that Democratic primary challenger are “extremists.” In fact, these people are all normal, center-left politicians in America.)
• Youngkin to meet with Democrats on felon voting rights restoration
• Democratic senator says he’s meeting with Youngkin to discuss rights restoration (“‘We’ve got to appeal to his heart,’ Spruill says”)
• The debate over Youngkin’s voting rights decision should only heat up this week
• Video: VA House Dem Leader Don Scott, Senator Mamie Locke, Community Organizers Speak Out Against Youngkin Administration’s Voting Rights Restoration Process – or Lack Thereof
• Youngkin aims to put guardrails on collection of teens’ online data
• Loudoun County Chair Phyllis Randall Calls on Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears to Correct Her “historically incorrect assertion that…Brown v Board was not about racial segregation but instead about school choice”
• Virginia lawmakers to weigh Youngkin’s changes to hemp bill
• Editorial: Behind closed doors (“Lawmakers will return to Richmond today but don’t expect a vote on a state budget. Those negotiations are once again happening out of public view.”)
• In reversal, Va. elections board OKs extension for candidates with missing paperwork
• Video: SD11 Democratic Primary Debate Between Sen. Creigh Deeds, Del. Sally Hudson Gets “Fiery” Over Several Issues (Guns, Abortion, Ranked Choice Voting, etc.) (According to J. Miles Coleman of the UVA Center for Politics, this primary is essentially “AOC versus Chuck Schumer in a national context”)
• Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Candidate Ed Nuttall Silent As His Supporters Spew Antisemitism
• Doula program in Danville seeks to address disproportionate maternal mortality among women of color
• Lawsuit says Portsmouth sheriff, deputy forced detainees to expose genitals to prove menstruation
• Some Virginia Beach City Council members critical of mayor’s decision to pull convention center hotel briefing
• Suspect detained after barricade at Arlington bank with customers inside
• UPDATED: Suspect in custody after bank robbery and standoff in Clarendon
• Former assistant principal investigated over teacher’s shooting by 6-year-old (“The former assistant principal has been accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old boy had a gun before he shot a teacher at Richneck Elementary School.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Well-above-average warmth to last through the weekend